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The Schooner MYOSOTIS... Hard Aground! HARD AGROUND and ice-covered is the schooner MYOSOTIS, a photo from the collection of George A. Vargo, of Benton Harbor. She went on at Silver Beach near St. Joseph in November, 1887. Apparently waves washed over her and froze after she wnet aground. Beers' "History of the Great Lakes" lists MYOSOTIS as 317 tons, built in 1874 and wrecked on Lake Michigan in 1887, apparently with no loss of life. That was a rough year and Beers lists 204 lives lost and $2.5 million in property loss. There were 73 vessels destroyed, aggregating 20,687 registered tons and including 16 steamers, 43 schooners, six tow barges and eight tug boats for a loss of $792,000 in hulls and $408,000 in cargoes. Yet this loss in boats represented less than half of the new tonnage built during the year, Beers reports. There were 100 boats built including 55 steamers, 14 tugs, nine steam yachts, two steam piledrivers and 20 schooners and schooner yachts, Vargo reports that the late Capt. Art Frederickson, whose books on Lake Michigan wrecks and on the Lake Michigan carferries are classics, made extensive use of Vargo's collection of photographs.